(Present times)

' Chogiwa...’ The song Wolf , startling Seulgi from her fitful sleep. ‘Jeez!...okay I'm up!’ Seulgi grumbled, struggling to escape the tangled bedcovers.

Managing to shut the alarm off, Seulgi hobbled to get the morning ablutions out of the way.

As she took a seat at the dining table, her mother noticed, ‘Seulgi-ah, those are some dark circles under your eyes. Didn’t you sleep well last night?’

‘Kind of!’

‘You might be coming down with something. Take the day off and rest at home,’ Minhyeok suggested.

‘I’m fine dad, just one of those nights.’

‘Don’t make any plans for tomorrow. Keep your day free,’ Hyesung ordered.

‘Tomorrow is Saturday. Apart from going to the gym, I’m home the whole day mom.’ Seulgi heartily dug in her food.

Her mother characteristically was about to grumble at Seulgi’s lack of complete social life other than work, but Minhyeok discouraged her with an imperceptible nod.

‘So what are we doing tomorrow?’ Seulgi asked, observing the silent communication between her parents. Even though different in personality, Hyesung and Minhyeok were never distant. North Pole and South Pole did meet outside the boudoir.

‘We have to be at the airport tomorrow morning, to receive Youngmi unni and Chanyeol,’ hermother reminded.

Not wanting to gag, Seulgi carefully swallowed the food in . Her first thought was throw herself in the bathroom, and remain barricaded there for the next few weeks. Yet she causally answered, ‘Sure! I’m going to work. See you in the evening.’ Swiftly, Seulgi got up.

‘Seulgi, finish your breakfast,’ Hyesung said.

‘Nah! It’s not made right today.’ Seulgi, already half out of the house, was doing some serious mental work. ‘I have to get out and think of plan A, B... possible Z, to escape tomorrow’s airport rendezvous.’

Minhyeok went back to reading his newspaper. At appropriate intervals, he continued to nod at his continuously chattering wife, even though he had stopped listening to her quite some time back. The trick always worked. He was considering getting a patent for it.

Parking the car on the usual spot, flinging the half-eaten chips